LTHForum.com

Indeed and I can't even decide which one of us I hope is right.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

The real test will be when they unveil their "Europe 20,000 BC" menu, with authentic recipes such as "kill food, cook over fire until sun moves from big rock to big tree".

I'd probably still go.

There are enough people on paleo-style diets that they'd probably make a killing.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I'm in a quandary ...

I received my waiting list e-mail this morning, but I really would prefer to pass on Paris 1906 for one of the subsequent menus. What I cannot figure out is whether I am better off registering my password and ID now, but not ordering any tables, or whether I should just wait for the second menu to be announced to register my ID?

If Mr. Kokonas is still monitoring this topic, advice would be appreciated, either on this topic or via PM.

And also, how do we notify the restaurant that one of my party uses a power wheelchair in advance?

I'll defer to Nick, of course, but my experience has been that it's good to have your credit card info registered so that when seats become available, you can jump on them. They're gone in seconds. I lost my shot by taking time to register the info rather than reserving seats.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I know I'm late to the party on this, but I have a question on the reservation system.

I received an email yesterday saying "you may now purchase tickets to our inaugural menu." It continued, "Every day we release another 20 tables for May through June," and "over the next several weeks, we will release additional tables for each night on a rolling basis." As instructed, I went to the site, generated my password, set up my credit card account, and logged in to buy tickets. Not suprisingly, I got the "currently sold out" message.

Is Next truly sold out for the season, or will new tables be periodically released as yesterday's e-mail said? If the latter, is there a particular time of day when new tables tend to be released on the site?

What did the "currently sold out" message say?

Here's the entire message: "We are currently sold out. Please check back as we will soon be releasing more tables."

My understanding is that all tables that have been released have been sold. There are still tables yet to be released (as the restaurant works up to 100% capacity) and those are, obviously, not yet sold.

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-Josh

An amuse bouche at breakfast is called a Bloody Mary - Scott Manlin

What were your settings on your camera? I'm going to Next on Sunday and would love to document my own experience with good pictures.

Getting into Next (via email/internet) sounds a lot like getting your kid into one of the better/popular Chicago Park District summer camps. Except the food they serve at those comes in brown cardboard boxes. And you don't get to pick your theme or era either.

bjt

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"eating is an agricultural act" wendell berry

I've been trying consistently over the past day to get tickets. I'd be interested to learn from those who've secured spots what time of day they've seen tickets available. I know that the "invitees" are given priority until May 1 but I also know that about 20,000 people are invitees....

Facebook and Twitter are the best places to see when they are releasing tickets -- I "liked" them on Facebook, and their updates show up in my news feed - they usually announce around when they are planning on releasing tickets.

For the first week or so, they had been releasing the first batch of the day right at 10 A.M. They stopped doing that this Wednesday and now they are being released randomly throughout the day at unannounced times. As far as I know, it's still only between 10 A.M. and 7 P.M., although if I'm in front of a computer before or after that I've been checking randomly just in case

Unless I'm following the wrong Twitter, they haven't tweeted since November.

They do not announce when tickets are about to be released on Facebook.

If you got an invite now, it wouldn't hurt to just sign up and put your information in. Nick has said on facebook that tickets for the next menu will go on sale sometime in June I believe. No idea if they will just release every ticket at once or continue doing it the way they are doing it.

So basically... starting at 10 A.M., start checking the webpage. Refresh incessantly if that is your thing.

A day or two ago I noted on the Hot Doug's thread that as much as I like Hot Doug's I would not wait in line for over an hour as some do.
Same thing here.
When I got the e-mail, I just assumed it was "choose your date" and that they had sent out a reasonable number of e-mails. I assumed they had their act together and would treat customers with respect.
I don't like playing games like this. It almost seems like arrogance -- "if you really want to eat our food, you will beg like dogs!"
I don't care how good the food might be, I'm not willing to constanty check back just so that I might get a table.
Crossing this place off my list.

Still haven't received a single email though I signed up when the site first went up.. Gotta check my deoderant.

I don't see how this is any different than trying to get a reservation over the phone at Alinea, French Laundry or El Bulli (examples used because there is a constant demand for the reservation). You call (or email) asking for a date and they either have a table or they don't. Do you get mad that you can't get a table? Sure, but it's not the restaurants fault. Alinea sells out two months in advance in a day or two when they open the books. Same thing here except it sounds like they are trying to release tables a few each day to give people a chance. Your odds were better getting a table when the bulk of the tables were released, but at least they're trying. Odds may be stacked against you based on the number, but it's the same at French Laundry or El Bulli. It just so happens to be in your home town which means it is probably more attainable than going to SF or Roses.

Alinea doesn't play games. You call and you get a reservation even if it is sometime in advance.
That is very different than "wait for the email and then log in at random times just hoping for some chance."

Edited to add: Has Alinea changed? I never had a problem getting a reservation when I called. Choosing the perfect date was one thing. Getting a table was not the problem. One call, reservation made.

Did you try the first two weeks they were open? Try Next in 6 years and you might have more luck...

I don't recall when Alinea opened. Just checked some financial info and found my first visit was in July 2005. Didn't it open around March of that year? I may be wrong.

Correction. Looks like it opened in May, 2005. My first visit was on July 24, 2005. Also went in December of that year (of my choosing although I'm not sure how long in advance I made that reservation) and a few time since then. Same story each time that i recall: Plan in advance, make the call, choose a date (and give them a credit card) and go.

I hear getting a res at El Bulli has become impossible to obtain. How dare they disrespect me like that!

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Objects in mirror appear to be losing.

From the New York Times's recent story on Next:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/us/09 ... ref=dining

"The cause of this amateur online auctioneering is Next, the newest offering from a local celebrity chef, Grant Achatz, whose acclaimed restaurant Alinea usually has a line."

*A* "local" celebrity chef?? Alinea "usually has a line"???!

A brief search of the author's articles confirms that he pretty much has no experience in food/restaurant reporting. The NYT might as well have assigned Florence Fabricant to cover nuclear energy policy.

Perhaps Jesse McKinley is just a nom de plum used by Judith Miller.

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Objects in mirror appear to be losing.

Wonder if the line at Alinea is as bad as the line at Hot Dougs.
I sent the writer an e-mail asking.

Your Next compared to Alinea/French Laundry analogy is not a good one. Can't get a reservation to Alinea for May or June? Fine, try again for July and August. Can't get a reservation to Next in May or June? Sorry, completely new restaurant on July 1st.

You're right, the menu at Alinea changes far more often than the one at Next...

Seems to me that even if it was a completely different menu than the Paris, the restaurant would have the same result. My guess, and yes it is just a guess, it that people will have the same difficulties getting a seat for the next menu.

Hated that line.. Local? Really? Lost a bit of respect for the NYT with that...

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my food shots

Agreed. The fact that they're doing nothing to do to dispel all the misinformation out there is infuriating. I've alternately read that they're completely sold out until 2012, releasing tables 2 months in advance, booking through June, releasing 20 tables per day, etc...

The fact is, they are treating their (potential) customers like training poodles. Come on, not supporting a browser that's used by 65% of people on the internet? How is requiring people to download specific software just to make dinner reservations (or basically to buy any type of ticket) reasonable? How is this whole process not tilted towards a certain demographic in general, i.e. those that live on facebook (which of course requires you to divulge pretty much your entire life story to Nick and his backers for the privledge of knowing when they have an available table)?

Now, I'm not saying that they don't have the right to do what they want to do - hell, they could require everyone to wear lederhosen, but Nick et al seem to be a little tone-deaf on this one in my opinion.

The website says



Perhaps it is too much to ask for people to wait until May 1, 2015 --- I mean 2011, two weeks from now --- for their site to launch and for questions to be answered. Why are we entitled to information sooner than that?